Ohio Senate votes to crack down on ‘revenge porn’

The Ohio Senate voted unanimously Wednesday in favor of a bill that would crack down on “revenge porn” — the practice of distributing sexually explicit images or videos of an ex-lover or others without consent.

State Sen. Joe Schiavoni, D-Austintown, said the legislation would create civil and criminal penalties for revenge porn against people 18 or older where the victim can be identified in the image and the offender knows he or she does not have consent.

While the bill cleared the Senate, it still has to clear the House, which unlikely given that lawmakers are trying to finish voting business next week. Schiavoni urged his colleagues to vote in favor of House Bill 497 — identical to the one that cleared the Senate on Wednesday — so that it has a chance to get final approval before lawmakers end the two-year legislative session.